releve Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, see http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/nh_plotform_instructions.pdf
Overall Taxon Cover Values are Automatically Calculated?
no
Stem Observation Area
400
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
30
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
60
%
Field Cover
50
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is in a dry white oak - scarlet oak / heath stand characteristic of the highest crests of an extensive undulating interfluve in Cumberland State Forest. Most of the surrounding stand is a submesic white oak-dominated forest. Despite dominance of oaks in the overstory, oak recruitment is poor and greatly outnumbered by more mesophytic species in the understory - e.g., red maple, beech, tulip-poplar (in gaps), and hickories.
0-3 cm: leaf litter
3-5 cm: humus / roots
5+ cm: light yellowish silt loam with small stones
Degree of subsurface stoniness does not appear to be uniform over plot.
Disturbance Data:
Disturbance Type
Disturbance Intensity
Disturbance Comment
unknown
Gap at west end of plot from wind-blown scarlet oak. Light salvage thinning in stand (stumps outside plot). A couple of old, cut redcedar stumps in plot.